Hygroscopic control element



A ril 17, 1934. F. F. BAHNSON HYGROSCOPIC CONTROL ELEMENT 2 Sheets-Sheet1 Filed NOV. 28, 1930 ooooomo gowe'nlioz Jim,

' dcnmm April 17, 1934;

F. F. BAHNSON 1,954,911

HYGBOSCOPIC CONTROL ELEMENT Filed Nov. 28, 1930 2 Shee ts-Sheet 2Patented Apr. 17, 1934 HY BO CO IC ,0Lv ENT Frederic F. Bahnson,Winston-Salem, N. 0., as-

signor to The Bal nson Company, WinstonaI m N- a o ion of lqtthfierqlint Ap ation N mbe 28, 1 w. ea Ntta te? 4 Claims.

h nvent on r at s o a hygrqstopic le: me t fo hum di c n a de ice and em h- Qd of manufa tu in e ame- Hygroseopic elements in the farm ofmultiple tra d have be n po d r m m t time, but in such elements thestrands were of filamentary nature, usually silk threads or hair, and noattempt was made to secure a circulation of air b tw n h strands or t eh e t an it. automati a y e ua ize. h e s all of h st ands Th S ver lStr nd of the h r qpic material talge the form o f elongated ribbons orstrips which are so mgunted in end frames that all strands are subjectedto the same stress. It will be evident that a hygroscopic control deviceof this type will not operate in the intended manner if here is a va a oin th ffe iv n ths o he sever st a d end/0t it th strands have difierentoperating characteristics.

An object of the invention is to provide a met od o manufac ur n h estqh elemen r th ty e nc n a ural of ac d an har el st nd o h hi mat ral n th fo m f a r bb r tr p.

A fu her ehie s h h q i ioh of e m t qel of manufacturing hygroscopicelements of the t p cemp hg a hy r opi ip W u d 01.1% pa r o pa d fr mwhe n ea h r n me t a e actl e a Qheret thereto; 4 teristics as everyother element similarly asne er ob ect o h in ent on is h r vi o of ahygroscopic element of the above type wheren a 9f h e ttihhs 9f e s riplie Paral e a n ma l ext nd hel heheiehla to the fiht he pla e a th e drames ther Objects of t e nv n on will appear item he q l ih descript rtake in tbhhectieh it the p e ed dra n whe ein F l a Vi w ehew he e herht e it element tehetrue e a c rdin t9 the eeh h h Fig, 2 is a sideelevational View showing a portion of the apparatus in the positioninwhich it is placed at an' early stage in the assembling o e at n,

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary side elevational view showing the apparatus asin a later stage,

' Fig. 4 is a view similar to Fig. 2, with the apparatus as seen at thecompletion of the assembly operation,

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary plan View of the aptparatus as shown in Fig. 3,4

Fig. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view showing a detail, and

h e-71s e view ha the head i m b r- In Fig. 1 is shown a completelyassembled by: groscopic element. The principal "element of the end frame1 is a. cha t fil m mber}, the flanges 3 ofwhich are'each provided withof holes lfcorresporiding holes in each row e; irlg disposed oppositeone anether. "A'pair of lugs Gare bent'up from the web 7 and provid dwith "ep'positel'y disposed holes 8 tofgrrri for connecting the frame 1'with anothe D of the humidity control device (not show 11) A thinchannel-shaped springclip 9 having fianges' lo'and pr'evided with anopening ii for modating' the lugs bf,- is fitted over the e 2. A roller13 'is' disposed'in each pair'of lined holes 4 in the flangesB, therollers 13 beingjof a diameter substantially equalto the paqe pe'i tweenany two adjacent holes l.

A second end frame 1, spaced from the first ra 1 ehd a in he W w thethee t membe p r ll l o t Web Qt the h htiel A member 2 of the firstframe 1, is similar 'to 'the first frame 1 except as tothe rolleis' andthe arrangement thereof. The second frame 1' is preyid'ed with one moreroller t an the a e; frame 1 the two end rollers 14a; 1411 beirigsqriie;go what smaller than the intermediate rollers "'13. The spacing pf theholes 4; is such that if .the ra s '1 a P ate i ee h ether ro er o ne amare obrhs te t e haeehf h h r frame i e t hat'the axes he t re small rro le s 14a. i-ieb' are opph l the'p i et lateral edges' of the en rolleis of the other frame, respectively.

A thin strip of hygroscopic material 15 (here; te te ted a the str it seur d a one end to'one of the small rhllers" Maand is W d eve ii et iv ll13 3" h e end frame alternately andthe other en I 'the s c h Small tellllb- ItWill e seetl that, due tothesize' and arrangement of" therollers, a line drawn perpendicular to the'plahe of either web andtangent to any of the inter} mediate rollers of the secpnd'frame, isalso gent to one of the rollers ofthe first" f e. Thus all of thesections of the strip exte ing between the end frames are.parallel'and'eirtehd perpendicular to the planes of the webs.

In Fig. 2 is shown a pair of similar, oppositely disposed end frameclamps 16,16 mounted or; a base 17 and spaced at such a iiistahethat'the 195 hygrescopie element will be of the desiredlength whenassembled thereon. he a p 5 tqm rie e u s eh ih hem.- b er 18 supperteii9n the base between two paral l t a memb 19 tath rte ht? t turned flathook portion 20, a pair of parallel arms 21 each provided with adepending fiat hook 22 and pivotally mounted on the upper end of theupstanding member 18, and a screw 23 extending through the centralportion of the upstanding member 18. The other clamp is of exactly thesame construction.

Suspended over the midpoint between the clamps 16, 16, by a cord 24passing over a set of sheaves 25, is a roller frame 26 in which isrotatably mounted a roller 27 having substantially the same width as thestrip 15 of hygroscopic material used in forming the element 1. A weight2'? hung on the other end of the cord 24 exerts a lifting force on theroller frame 26.

Disposed in alinement with the clamps 16, 16 is a clip 28 for securingthe end of a strip of paper and, between the clip 28 and the nearerclamp 16, is a U-shaped roller support 29 which is adapted to rotatablysupport a guide roller 30 of 'sufiicient length to guide the strip 15 ofhygroscopic material.

Mounted adjacent the clamp 16' is a post 31 carrying a. pair ofhorizontal blades 32, 33, mounted for independent rotation about avertical axis. The blades 32, 33' are so mounted that they may be movedin a manner similar to a'pair of scissors, into a position one above theother with the lower side of the upper blade 32 overlying the upper sideof the lower blade 33.

The strip 15 which is used in making the hygroscopic element may beformed from any one of several materials but it is preferred to use a a.highlybeaten paper which has been cut transversely of the web.

The method of assembling the unit is as follows: j The end frames 1, -1,with the rollers 13, 13',

--. 14, removed and the flanges 10, 10' of the spring clips 9, 9 pushedaway from their positions over the holes 4, 4 (as shown in dotted linesin Fig. 5) are inserted in the clamps 16, 16' with the hooks 22, 22engaging the ends of the webs 7, 7

and the clamping screws 23, 23' tightened against the webs 7, '7 tosecure the framesl, 1

in place.

l The lowermost roller 14a is inserted in the end frame 16' that takesthe small end rollers and one end of the strip 15 is wound over theroller 14a and cemented to form a loop whereby the end of the strip 15is secured to the roller 14a. The other end of the strip 15 is cementedto the end of a waste strip 34 which is of substantially the same widthas the strip 15 but which is formed of some less expensive material,such as strips of hygroscopic material which are defective andunsatisfactory for use in forming the element. The free end of the wastestrip 34 is passed over the rollerand secured'in the clip 28. The weight27 exerts a pull on the cord 24 to raise the roller frame 26 and roller27 whereby the web 35, consisting of the strip 15 and the waste strip34, will be drawn taut and will be subjected to a continuous tensilestress of constant value.

A thin, rigid, paddle-shaped handling member 36 is laid against the web35 with the narrow end directed downwardly and is moved toward the endframe on the opposite side of the web 35 to push the web 35 ahead of it.When the handling member 36'reache's the end frame 1, it'is depressed toforce the web 35 below the lowermost holes 4 in the frame 1 and a roller13 is inserted in this set of holes to hold a portion of the web 35 in ahorizontal position (as shown in broken lines in Fig. 2). The handlingmember 36 is then placed on the other side of the web 35 and movedtoward the other end frame 16. A second roller 13' is inserted in theframe 4' over the Web 35 to hold the second section of the Web 35 in aposition parallel to the first section (as shown in Fig. 3). I

These steps are repeated until all of the rollers have been inserted intheir respective frames except the top roller 14b to which the end ofthe strip is to be secured. The lower blade 33 is then moved to aposition transversely of and overlying the top section of the strip 15.The web 35 is moved toward the end frame 16' and the top roller 14binserted in a manner similar to the insertion of the other rollers.

The web 35 is then introduced into the space between the arms of theroller support 29 and the guide roller 30 inserted to thereby hold thatportion of the web 35 which lies between the guide roller 30 and the endframe 16 in a substantially horizontal position. Cement is applied to asmall portion, adjacent the end roller 14b, of the upper surface of thetop section of the strip 15 and the upper blade 32 is moved to aposition directly above the lower blade 33 to thereby clamp together thetwo thicknesses of the strip 15. When the cement has hardened, the strip15 is severed adjacent the joint and the blades 32, 33 removed. Thescrews 23, 23 are loosened and the spring clips 9, 9 are snapped intothe position (shown in full lines in Fig. 5) in which their flanges 10,10' respectively engage the flanges 3, 3' of the channel members 2, 2'whereby the rollers 13, 13', 14a, 145 are retained in their respectivepositions in the channel members 2, 2. The element is now complete andis removed from the clamps.

It is desirable to cure the hygroscopic material in order that theelement will retain for a long period the same operatingcharacteristics. The curing is effected by suspending the one end frameof the element from a stationary support, attaching such a weight to theother end frame as will subject the element to a tension of the sameorder as the normal operating tensions and subjecting the element to anatmosphere of varying humidity for a period of from two to ten days,which relative humidity has at least as great a range of variation asthe relative humidity to which the strip will be subjected duringoperation. When the curing is completed, the element is ready for use ina humidity control device.

I claim:

1. An end frame for a hygroscopic element for use in humidifyingapparatus, comprising a rigid channel member, a plurality of parallelrollers arranged in a row and extending between the flanges of saidchannel member andmeans for retaining said rollers in said channelmember.

2. The invention as set forth in claim 1, wherein said retaining meanscomprises a resilient channel-shaped clip having its flanges providedwith inwardly directed bends engaging the flanges of said channelmember.

3. In the process of manufacturing hygroscopic elements for airconditioning apparatus, the steps which comprise connecting a strip ofhygroscopic material between a pair of end frames in a plurality ofreturn bends, and curing said strip prior to assembly in the airconditioning apparatus by scopic elements for air conditioningapparatus,

to an atmosphere of varying relative humidity having at least as great avariation as the relative humidity to which the strip" will be subjectedduring operation.

FREDERIC F. BAHNSON.

